I'm thinking of taking the IOL Exam next year (well, in 2005 at this stage) and also considering following a course in preparation.

I was checking out a few of those mentioned in these forums as well - mainly those provided by London City University and WLS (Ireland). I haven't actually found any other courses than those two, for now.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's tried any of these courses (or others if any), for my language combination (English to Italian), or any other. Which course would you recommend, if you recommend a course at all? Is it worth it, even if you already have work experience?

Any advice, suggestions, experiences, etc. would be really appreciated, thanks!

[Edited at 2003-10-24 11:05]

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I do not know where you are based, but, as far I know and I can say about your request, the only chance you have, if you want to train for the IOL exam, is to follow a translation course at the British Council.
I personally attended for some years the lessons at the British Council in Milan and my teacher was willing to train the class for the several sessions of translation.
He also gave us some paper sheets with previous exam tests and then checked and commented on our results.

Should you need more information, feel free to write to my personal email address.
Bye
Paola

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xxxtr.Local time: 06:23 English to Italian

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Thanks, Paola!

Sep 25, 2003

I didn't even know the British Council also offered courses, not just the exam itself (my bad - I hadn't checked yet). And indeed, I'm actually near Milan so it would be convenient enough. I'd already taken the IELTS exam there years ago...

I'll send you an email then, Paola, thanks a million!

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I did several units via London City U distance learning, German into English, and had a very positive experience. I found them to be well-organized and professional, and I really learned a lot. I'd recommend trying the 10-credit "mini course" option, to see how well you do with the distance learning format (the monetary commitment is minimal this way).

And yes, it is very much worth it in my opinion. Your tutor is likely to spend an inordinate amount of time correcting/commenting on your translations, and this kind of feedback was invaluable for me.

Best regards,
Michele

[Edited at 2003-09-25 14:13]

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I'm not sure if this'll be the same in Italy but I'm preparing to do the Diploma in Spain and I've done a distance course with International House (language schools)in Barcelona with helpful feedback and lots of past papers for practice.

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xxxCipo German to English + ...

I'm studying with WLS

Sep 25, 2003

Hi,

I'm studying the certificate in Translation from WLS at the moment and I can definitely recommend it and other courses from WLS. A friend of mine has also done the course in the language pair English-Italian and found it very good. The notes provided are very comprehensive and contact with my tutor has been always very fast and helpful. How fast you complete the course is entirely up to you with the ability to download all the course material and assignments from the website. Hope that helps!

Miriam

Traweb wrote:

Hi all,

I'm thinking of taking the IOL Exam next year (well, in 2005 at this stage) and also considering following a course in preparation.

I was checking out a few of those mentioned in these forums as well - mainly those provided by London City University and WLS (Ireland). I haven't actually found any other courses than those two, for now.

I'd love to hear from anyone who's tried any of these courses (or others if any), for my language combination (English to Italian), or any other. Which course would you recommend, if you recommend a course at all? Is it worth it, even if you already have work experience?

Any advice, suggestions, experiences, etc. would be really appreciated, thanks!

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I studied at the University of Westminster in London to prepare for this exam but i was extremely disappointed by the low level of requirements (I learned more with my local university and by practising on my own) so save time and money and read read read!

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I took the IoL exam a few years ago before having worked freelance at all. I ordered several past papers, but didn't do any preparation apart from that and passed the exam with merit. The past papers give you a good idea of what the examiners are looking for, and in my opinion a course isn't really necessary if you are proficient in the language and have some translation experience.

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xxxtr.Local time: 06:23 English to Italian

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Thanks (belated)

Nov 14, 2003

First of all: apologies for not responding earlier - for some reason I wasn't getting the email alerts about new replies to the thread, and hadn't kept up with it...

Thanks to everyone who replied. I'm still considering the options, as I have plenty of time to until the 2005 exam... But in the end I think I'll stick to Alexandra's and TonyT's suggestions to work mostly on my own.
Or rather, first I'll get all the relevant past papers I can, and then see if I can handle it on my own or not.

If I do a course, I think I'll go for the Irish WLS like Miriam suggested, because it's rather affordable and most of all, you can choose any time of the year to do the distance courses, whereas London City University has fixed schedules (ditto for the local British Council, which is also too expensive). I'd rather not be tied to deadlines and specific times of the year.

Also, in the meantime I got very helpful respnonses from WLS, they sent me a lot of information, so I'm more inclined towards them.

Many thanks to all for the input, again. It's been very helpful in making up my mind.

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xxxtr.Local time: 06:23 English to Italian

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WLS

Nov 14, 2003

Miriam Finglass wrote:

Hi,

I'm studying the certificate in Translation from WLS at the moment and I can definitely recommend it and other courses from WLS. A friend of mine has also done the course in the language pair English-Italian and found it very good. The notes provided are very comprehensive and contact with my tutor has been always very fast and helpful. How fast you complete the course is entirely up to you with the ability to download all the course material and assignments from the website.

That is exactly the kind of course I'd prefer. I've only communicated with WLS briefly but I've already been impressed by how responsive and helpful they are.

I also like the way they've organised and split courses.

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